my new resolution for this holiday, other than my tuition plan-
i wanna learn how to draw cartoons and make cartoons on the computer!!!
i got a great story plot to put into cartoons..
hahaha
might just turn out to be another dream left behind.
;P
Another week - and temporary freedom!!!
muahaha
wenrong
Thursday, April 28, 2005
Saturday, April 16, 2005
只能抱着你
作词:光良 / 作词:瑞业 / 男声:光良
好想这样抱着你,我知道你有些在意。
给他伤了心,才想到可以找你。
好想这样抱着你,我知道你现在伤心,
想有人陪你,只是如此而已。
你知道,我明了。抱着你,我(你)的泪,却为他而掉。
你知道,我明了,抱着你,温习拥抱。
你知道,我明了,抱着你,我的心有些动摇。
你有的好,他做不到(他有的好 我做不到)。
还想他(也许他),可能等我回家(等你回家),
在我们(你们)相识的楼下。
还想他(也许他),可能拨我电话(拨你电话)留话。
还爱他(你爱他),我从没怀疑过(没怀疑过),
今晚心底的挣札,我不说你明白吗?
只能这样抱着你,我知道你有些在意,
给他伤了心,才想到可以找你。
只能这样抱着你,我知道你现在伤心,
想有人陪你,只是如此而已。
作词:光良 / 作词:瑞业 / 男声:光良
好想这样抱着你,我知道你有些在意。
给他伤了心,才想到可以找你。
好想这样抱着你,我知道你现在伤心,
想有人陪你,只是如此而已。
你知道,我明了。抱着你,我(你)的泪,却为他而掉。
你知道,我明了,抱着你,温习拥抱。
你知道,我明了,抱着你,我的心有些动摇。
你有的好,他做不到(他有的好 我做不到)。
还想他(也许他),可能等我回家(等你回家),
在我们(你们)相识的楼下。
还想他(也许他),可能拨我电话(拨你电话)留话。
还爱他(你爱他),我从没怀疑过(没怀疑过),
今晚心底的挣札,我不说你明白吗?
只能这样抱着你,我知道你有些在意,
给他伤了心,才想到可以找你。
只能这样抱着你,我知道你现在伤心,
想有人陪你,只是如此而已。
rahh...
handed up my written assignment yesterday, rather, sent it to paul to hand up for me. i overslept and missed the ride.. this is what happens when you write it till 340am in the morning, you cannot wake up at 630am to go to school.
sigh...
i need to focus...
i need to study..
why am i not studying?
i cannot find the zest that i had in jc..
i hate this feeling.
damn it.
i am goin to study.
i hereby promise myself to study hard for another 3 weeks.
and then i can rot for 3 months.
;p
did i mention i lost my smart card pin?
how am i goin to do my student survey!?
arghhhhhhh
-mindless ranting-
wenrong.
handed up my written assignment yesterday, rather, sent it to paul to hand up for me. i overslept and missed the ride.. this is what happens when you write it till 340am in the morning, you cannot wake up at 630am to go to school.
sigh...
i need to focus...
i need to study..
why am i not studying?
i cannot find the zest that i had in jc..
i hate this feeling.
damn it.
i am goin to study.
i hereby promise myself to study hard for another 3 weeks.
and then i can rot for 3 months.
;p
did i mention i lost my smart card pin?
how am i goin to do my student survey!?
arghhhhhhh
-mindless ranting-
wenrong.
Thursday, April 14, 2005
SIAN,
i actually hate my piece, trying to ask my smart frens to read it for me, whether it make sense to them.
but i hate my piece.
There's inertia to change it.. i'm really reluctant.. i slept upon it (a phrase used by my legal writing tutor). but decided i still do not wish to change anything, as much as i feel it is superficial.. hahaha
because i really don't understand why i disagree with the proposed reforms.. i cannot elaborate properly.
Where is Pardeep? (yes, i say i'll mention u) He is on his way to school. According to him, he is losing sanity.. hahaha shan't poke fun at him here.. i dunwan to lost a fren, or an arm..
yawnnnn
idiotic unger (nope, not uncle, his name is roberto mangabeira UNGER), Gordon, peter gabel.. oh which reminds me.. i haven quote gabel..
i'm too free lah
got "chased away" by paul on Msn.. Cos i was irritating him.. disturbing his writer's inspiration.. rahhhhh
no one wants to talk to me, because everyone is busy with their essay.. why cant i stay more focUZ..
cos i don't use "focus daily"
hahaha
i shall shoot myself for saying that...
outta here
hope i get tuition fees tonite
MUAHAHAHHAHAHAHAH
HOPE
did i mention, i wanna go KTV!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
don u hear?
ha ha ha
i actually hate my piece, trying to ask my smart frens to read it for me, whether it make sense to them.
but i hate my piece.
There's inertia to change it.. i'm really reluctant.. i slept upon it (a phrase used by my legal writing tutor). but decided i still do not wish to change anything, as much as i feel it is superficial.. hahaha
because i really don't understand why i disagree with the proposed reforms.. i cannot elaborate properly.
Where is Pardeep? (yes, i say i'll mention u) He is on his way to school. According to him, he is losing sanity.. hahaha shan't poke fun at him here.. i dunwan to lost a fren, or an arm..
yawnnnn
idiotic unger (nope, not uncle, his name is roberto mangabeira UNGER), Gordon, peter gabel.. oh which reminds me.. i haven quote gabel..
i'm too free lah
got "chased away" by paul on Msn.. Cos i was irritating him.. disturbing his writer's inspiration.. rahhhhh
no one wants to talk to me, because everyone is busy with their essay.. why cant i stay more focUZ..
cos i don't use "focus daily"
hahaha
i shall shoot myself for saying that...
outta here
hope i get tuition fees tonite
MUAHAHAHHAHAHAHAH
HOPE
did i mention, i wanna go KTV!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
don u hear?
ha ha ha
please, just let me rant before i start writing my legal theory paper which is due tml at 12 noon..
current status - 0 words.
I want to complain! i raised the suggestion of the next alumni tea with the yj-alumni, only one person volunteered to help organise it. If that's not enough, the co-ordinator did not even mention it in his reply. Am i barking up the wrong tree? should i continue to make effort in this forum? or should i jus give it all up? I mean, as much as I want to do this as well for SN, they really don't lack of people enthu enough to do it. i have half the mind to go on with the soccer charity myself.
I don't think I should get so worked up over this as well, after all, i've graduated and no longer has anything to do with the school anymore (as most people put it). I've gotten my 'A's, that's it, move on. But at the back of my mind, something seems to be telling me to do something for the school.
it is frustrating because, we all know they only want the alumni to contribute by giving donations.
it is frustrating because, the alumni itself is passive.
it is frustrating because, the school isn't recognising your effort.
it is frustrating because, you feel so pointless, like throwing ur suggestions into the sea..
it is frustrating because, no one seems to have faith in the organization, and the people have proved them to be right.
it's pissing me off.
perhaps i can just give it all up.
current status - 0 words.
I want to complain! i raised the suggestion of the next alumni tea with the yj-alumni, only one person volunteered to help organise it. If that's not enough, the co-ordinator did not even mention it in his reply. Am i barking up the wrong tree? should i continue to make effort in this forum? or should i jus give it all up? I mean, as much as I want to do this as well for SN, they really don't lack of people enthu enough to do it. i have half the mind to go on with the soccer charity myself.
I don't think I should get so worked up over this as well, after all, i've graduated and no longer has anything to do with the school anymore (as most people put it). I've gotten my 'A's, that's it, move on. But at the back of my mind, something seems to be telling me to do something for the school.
it is frustrating because, we all know they only want the alumni to contribute by giving donations.
it is frustrating because, the alumni itself is passive.
it is frustrating because, the school isn't recognising your effort.
it is frustrating because, you feel so pointless, like throwing ur suggestions into the sea..
it is frustrating because, no one seems to have faith in the organization, and the people have proved them to be right.
it's pissing me off.
perhaps i can just give it all up.
Sunday, April 10, 2005
my effort for the yj alumni, for the yj forum, my wish to become a teacher, my hope for the education system, my dream to volunteer, my change in character, the change in way of communication..
it's scary, the resemblence.
i try very hard to dismiss it.
I noe i'm this far away from the required chrisma because i've yet to derived the desired results from the effort i've put in.
It's disheartening to look at the result of the poll, the confidence level of the alumni, the response from the alumni. when your enthusiasm is met with a bucket of cold water..
at the back of my head, my fear has always been that some people might bring up the past, the history. That people may and perhaps will always view my enthusiasm with suspicion, that there is some motive behind it.. maybe i am afraid he think so. Mayb i'm afraid that i have to face something that i know i wish will never have to, but back of my mind know that it is inevitable..
i'm frustrated.
now is not the time to be.
i've got bigger things to worry about, like my future, like a typical NUS undergrad, i've got my exams to worry about.
it's scary, the resemblence.
i try very hard to dismiss it.
I noe i'm this far away from the required chrisma because i've yet to derived the desired results from the effort i've put in.
It's disheartening to look at the result of the poll, the confidence level of the alumni, the response from the alumni. when your enthusiasm is met with a bucket of cold water..
at the back of my head, my fear has always been that some people might bring up the past, the history. That people may and perhaps will always view my enthusiasm with suspicion, that there is some motive behind it.. maybe i am afraid he think so. Mayb i'm afraid that i have to face something that i know i wish will never have to, but back of my mind know that it is inevitable..
i'm frustrated.
now is not the time to be.
i've got bigger things to worry about, like my future, like a typical NUS undergrad, i've got my exams to worry about.
so much for current affairs, tonight the other side of the gemini speaks..
Had a couple of rough weeks with my boyfriend, was on the verge of breaking up. i'm glad that's out of the way right now.. will it be peace all the way now? i wonder..
i talked about my dreams and my dilemma.. on one hand, i wish to be volunteer, to be a teacher, to give back to society.. on the other, i really wanna make lotsa money, bring my parents travelling, drive a nice car.. yes, the twins bickering in my head.. I know that i'll definitely be happier being a giver.. but i don't wanna be sloggin my life away.. hence i said i wanted to give myself 3 years working as a professional before deciding if i really wanted to be a teacher. I told him if i was really miserable, i would then go into teaching.. He said why be miserable first den, when you can go and teach directly?
first, because unless you were miserable before, you cannot appreciate the kind of happiness you can derive from something else. Unless you were miserable before, you cannot understand how much better of you are subsequently. Being there and knowing what it is, are completely different.
second, if you had been a professional, your words carry weight in the school. You move up faster. "How high do you want to climb?" When people listen to me, when i can introduce new things into the school without much effort..i did not want to be some normal teacher who takes instructions from the school and then carry them out.. That will totally defeat the purpose of me wanting to become a teacher. I wanna inject new life to current lessons, i wanna make education a different experience for the kids, i want to change their lives. He then say that being a normal teacher can be happy too, raising his mum as an eg. An alarm sounded in my head, i steered the conversation away.. i totally respect teachers and what they do, by saying i wish to do things differently does not mean they are not doin a good job. Since we were talking about his mother's occupation, i tot i better avoid goin further before i go into the danger zone again..
Sigh, which made me realise one thing.. He doesnt really understand my dream, he doesn't really understand me enough in that sense... I've always told him how i wanted to help the students, the things i would do if i had a class, my tution kids.. but he doesn't get it... He doesn't understand why am i doing all these things, just like my sister who said she will never take up a teaching role unless lecturing in university.
i dont even know if i will end up teaching, but somehow, i am very uncomfortable to be together with someone who can tell me i can be happy being a normal teacher. Totally missing the point of why i want to be a teacher. It's like he tripped an alarm and it hasn't stop sounding since just now..
The impact was reinforced, when he dropped me at the bus stop without seeing me up, when i had 2 textbooks, a pullover, a laptop, a bag and a packet of rice to bring upstairs.. I know he has a headache, i know it is troublesome to park the car, i know i shouldn't expect so much.. but i'm a girl after all... Even if all he did was asked if he had to see me up, i would have ask him to go home and rest instead, gladly.. yes, hypocritical, superficial if he all he wanted to do was pretend he cared.. but the sad fact is, women are this gullible, women are suckers for these acts, trust me.. All you have to do, is look really beaten, with innocent eyes, say "darling, do you need me to help you with those and see u up? My headach is slightly better now, dun worry bout me." and the girl will ask you to drive home carefully with her textbooks falling all over. yes, the power of words...
However, i know that if i told him that, he'll ask me "you really want me to say that when i don't mean it? why are u always expecting me to be someone else?" He doesn't understand that there is no someone else that i want him to be, that is a kind of communication between couples, between two individual human beings who see each other almost half a day, everyday. Such act leads to a win win situation, the girl gets the emotional satisfaction, the guy gets to go home and sleep. what could be better? It only takes a few more words on the guy's part, and the girl to be a girl, that's IT.
Just read my fren's blog, trying to move on from her break up.. Like all girls who got a bastard as boyfriend or ex-bf, left hurt and trying hard to move on, losing her identity.. Grabbing on to her religion like a floating piece of wood in the vast open sea.. I'm sick of hearing the same old story repeating itself... i donno how to comfort her, because just not too long ago, i was in her position. Losing myself, whinning day and night, crying like a baby... walking in the shadow of my previous relationship, seems like i'll never walk out of it..
i just wish she can be strong so that she can stand up again. No one can help her but herself.. she's right about one thing, things will never be the same again.
Why?
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
People exercise restraint on themselves.
alot of things i yearn to do, wish to think of, hope i can have.
I have to stop my thoughts, not even actions.
That is what being an adult is about rite?
When you were young, the adults stop you from doing this and that, you wish you'd grow up faster.
When you are an adult, you have all the freedom to do things now. But u realised that many things you weren't allowed to do when you were young, usually you don't do them as adults, because you now exercise self restraint.
The same restrictions, jus in different forms.
Wat is freedom?
I hate people.
Had a couple of rough weeks with my boyfriend, was on the verge of breaking up. i'm glad that's out of the way right now.. will it be peace all the way now? i wonder..
i talked about my dreams and my dilemma.. on one hand, i wish to be volunteer, to be a teacher, to give back to society.. on the other, i really wanna make lotsa money, bring my parents travelling, drive a nice car.. yes, the twins bickering in my head.. I know that i'll definitely be happier being a giver.. but i don't wanna be sloggin my life away.. hence i said i wanted to give myself 3 years working as a professional before deciding if i really wanted to be a teacher. I told him if i was really miserable, i would then go into teaching.. He said why be miserable first den, when you can go and teach directly?
first, because unless you were miserable before, you cannot appreciate the kind of happiness you can derive from something else. Unless you were miserable before, you cannot understand how much better of you are subsequently. Being there and knowing what it is, are completely different.
second, if you had been a professional, your words carry weight in the school. You move up faster. "How high do you want to climb?" When people listen to me, when i can introduce new things into the school without much effort..i did not want to be some normal teacher who takes instructions from the school and then carry them out.. That will totally defeat the purpose of me wanting to become a teacher. I wanna inject new life to current lessons, i wanna make education a different experience for the kids, i want to change their lives. He then say that being a normal teacher can be happy too, raising his mum as an eg. An alarm sounded in my head, i steered the conversation away.. i totally respect teachers and what they do, by saying i wish to do things differently does not mean they are not doin a good job. Since we were talking about his mother's occupation, i tot i better avoid goin further before i go into the danger zone again..
Sigh, which made me realise one thing.. He doesnt really understand my dream, he doesn't really understand me enough in that sense... I've always told him how i wanted to help the students, the things i would do if i had a class, my tution kids.. but he doesn't get it... He doesn't understand why am i doing all these things, just like my sister who said she will never take up a teaching role unless lecturing in university.
i dont even know if i will end up teaching, but somehow, i am very uncomfortable to be together with someone who can tell me i can be happy being a normal teacher. Totally missing the point of why i want to be a teacher. It's like he tripped an alarm and it hasn't stop sounding since just now..
The impact was reinforced, when he dropped me at the bus stop without seeing me up, when i had 2 textbooks, a pullover, a laptop, a bag and a packet of rice to bring upstairs.. I know he has a headache, i know it is troublesome to park the car, i know i shouldn't expect so much.. but i'm a girl after all... Even if all he did was asked if he had to see me up, i would have ask him to go home and rest instead, gladly.. yes, hypocritical, superficial if he all he wanted to do was pretend he cared.. but the sad fact is, women are this gullible, women are suckers for these acts, trust me.. All you have to do, is look really beaten, with innocent eyes, say "darling, do you need me to help you with those and see u up? My headach is slightly better now, dun worry bout me." and the girl will ask you to drive home carefully with her textbooks falling all over. yes, the power of words...
However, i know that if i told him that, he'll ask me "you really want me to say that when i don't mean it? why are u always expecting me to be someone else?" He doesn't understand that there is no someone else that i want him to be, that is a kind of communication between couples, between two individual human beings who see each other almost half a day, everyday. Such act leads to a win win situation, the girl gets the emotional satisfaction, the guy gets to go home and sleep. what could be better? It only takes a few more words on the guy's part, and the girl to be a girl, that's IT.
Just read my fren's blog, trying to move on from her break up.. Like all girls who got a bastard as boyfriend or ex-bf, left hurt and trying hard to move on, losing her identity.. Grabbing on to her religion like a floating piece of wood in the vast open sea.. I'm sick of hearing the same old story repeating itself... i donno how to comfort her, because just not too long ago, i was in her position. Losing myself, whinning day and night, crying like a baby... walking in the shadow of my previous relationship, seems like i'll never walk out of it..
i just wish she can be strong so that she can stand up again. No one can help her but herself.. she's right about one thing, things will never be the same again.
Why?
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
People exercise restraint on themselves.
alot of things i yearn to do, wish to think of, hope i can have.
I have to stop my thoughts, not even actions.
That is what being an adult is about rite?
When you were young, the adults stop you from doing this and that, you wish you'd grow up faster.
When you are an adult, you have all the freedom to do things now. But u realised that many things you weren't allowed to do when you were young, usually you don't do them as adults, because you now exercise self restraint.
The same restrictions, jus in different forms.
Wat is freedom?
I hate people.
Thursday, April 07, 2005
just sent another email to the mailing list of yj alumni
i proposed an idea of soccer charity to the school, the school started a poll on the idea.
That shows how much faith the school has of the student body. It is undeniably pragmatic to gauge the participation level, but it's really demoralising to start things on such low level of faith..
And even more disappointing, is the fact that less than 10% of people voted and the deadline is either tml or the day after tml. They are just proving the school right, that it was right to speculate the level of participation, that yjcians, past or present, are an indifferent bunch.
There's no room for improvement given such frame that we are being put into, there cannot be a breakthrough.
if they weren't for the idea, it is understandable. i mean everyone is entitled to their view and if the idea of soccer charity does not appeal to them, den very well, go to the poll to say "no, i do not wish to join".
However, the main problem is the indifference embedded among the alumni and students alike. They sit around and wait for things to happen, if it so happens, yay good for us. If it doesn't, well it's like dat.
I post them a question "if you cannot even afford that, then why did you subscribe to the mails?"
I'm not expecting everyone to come up with a brilliant idea overnight and cry "we love yj". Not even my level of participation, ie writing proposal and participating in discussion. But at least when someone shows the initiatives, agree or disagree. It's as easy as nodding or shaking the head. if 90% of the people did not vote, i don't see the point of the mailing list at all. What is the point of keeping 180 people updated about things they cannot be bothered with?
maybe i'm over reacting, but it's simply disappointing to see this.
Anyway, i was discussing euthanasia with my little brother. He happened to be online cos he took MC from school today. Apparently i was telling him i could help them with GP (topics, not grammar..) if they needed any help, and he asked me what to tutor for GP. Then initially post him a qn of inter-racial relationship. I wasn't too satisfied with his ans, i have to admit. Then i asked him "what do you think of euthanasia? are you for it or against it?"
These are things that should crop up in your mind as you read the papers, esp the forum where alot of people voice their views. You look at their views and decide whether you agree or disagree with them. Then ask yourself, why do you agree? Why not? Make out an argument of your own.
He was rather interested in the discussion and by the end of it, he decided that GP was fun after all.
More of such discussion should be done in school instead of emphasis on the form of writing an argumentative that they have currently. I suggested that he could initiate such a discussion among a few mature friends and propose to the school for a supervising teacher. At the end of the discussion, a report of the different views can be written and circulate among the larger student population. This can benefit the large group of student body at the same time, impress upon them the need to be aware of their surroundings and current affairs. It will definitely benefit their GP grades and their ability to interlink across discipline..
I need to realise all these ideas, but i noe if i go to teacher, the school won't be too receptive, not to mention it'll take some time for me to become a qualified teacher.
Talking about teaching, brings me to another topic:
Japan has accepted the new syllabus of History textbook As reported by TST 6th april, the new syllabus claim that it was not Japan who started the war and the comfort woman issue was diluted with no mention of the phrase "comfort women".
I am not about to fan anti-japanese emotions here. I think that a country has the sovereignty to teach their younger generation the way they wish it to be. China is also guilty of whitewashing their own history text of cruelty - e.g. Tiananmen Massacre. I believe in every country, a certain level of dilution of facts because: first, the history is written by the victors. in the case of a civil war, the party winning that civil war will choose which version of truth to teach the young. Second, a certain level of white washing is essential to maintain the pride of the nation, the pride of the citizens. For them to be proud to be of their origin. I wish to address the whole of such white washing issue, not particularly on any issue and definitely not taking sides.
What is the basic objective of education?
to prepare the younger generation to contribute to the society, imparting knowledge
The idea of imparting knowledge, has it become a mere passing on of norms within the society? the subjective knowledge from one generation to another, reinforcing the societal norms?
Is education merely for social engineering? that we tell the younger generation "it is a joy to be parent" when we need more babies, "this is the country's glorious past" when we need more patriotism among the people. I tend to believe such alterations, as long as they're not totally untrue, ie teaching young kids smoking is good, or as long as they do not impeach on friendly relations between countries, should be fine.
The former is obvious.
The latter can be a bit controvesial.
Why must an independent country craft their syllabus in order to make another country happy?
Let's take for example Japan's change of syllabus -
as i have learn in my secondary school history lesson, Japan started WWII in the Asian region, this i've checked up in CNN.com in their interview with the late author of The rape of NanKing
http://www.cnn.com/books/news/9905/25/nanking.salon/. Notwithstanding that, there is also the Singapore Museum that told me how Singaporeans suffered under the cruelty of Japan. Hence it is not difficult for us to accept the tragedy that occured in Nanking and Korea. I do not deny that i may be another product of subjectivity of history, however, there are many pictures, accounts of victims that can support this. These aren't things that victors of war make up just to blame another country for starting the war.
The subject of their alterations happened to involve their wrongdoing towards another country. It implies that they do not admit their mistake and their part in the war. It is one thing to say "yes, we started the war, we were wrong, we learn from it, we are strong today." it is another to say that "No, we were defending our rights, we are strong today". Telling a completely different story (note: i did not say "wrong story") is different from omitting the story, departing even further from what the evidences point to.
I am not even proposing to have a full account of what we have learnt on the receiving end of the cruelty. A mention and acknowledgment of these accounts could suffice. It is not the intention to shame the younger generation, to make them feel apologetic towards the other countries. It is to teach the younger generation the mistake that was made in the past and ought not to be repeated once again.
By protecting the people from such knowledge will only harm them, shock them even more when they eventually find out on their own, shame them even more with the full impact of reports from outside the country. With the current trend of globalisation and accessibility of information over the internet, the possibility of that happening is very high.
One can only imagine the growing differences such an act would create, the misguided younger generation, not understanding the anger every has against them.
Someone asked me "So you think we should continuing bashing them with the crimes their fore-fathers committed, make them feel ashamed and continue to make reparations? do you know why Germany started WWII then? it was because they were made to pay so much reparations that they couldn't bear the sufferings."
So what is the solution? To not even tell them what actually happened? This will only tighten the tension between those countries involved and evolve into more complicated misunderstandings eventually. When those misguided generation lead the country, they will not be able to appreciate the situation and in worst case senarios, another war may break out.
A civilised approached ought to be taken..
but den again, does civilised means "he who has the power, has the say"?
Politics, never get involved...
i proposed an idea of soccer charity to the school, the school started a poll on the idea.
That shows how much faith the school has of the student body. It is undeniably pragmatic to gauge the participation level, but it's really demoralising to start things on such low level of faith..
And even more disappointing, is the fact that less than 10% of people voted and the deadline is either tml or the day after tml. They are just proving the school right, that it was right to speculate the level of participation, that yjcians, past or present, are an indifferent bunch.
There's no room for improvement given such frame that we are being put into, there cannot be a breakthrough.
if they weren't for the idea, it is understandable. i mean everyone is entitled to their view and if the idea of soccer charity does not appeal to them, den very well, go to the poll to say "no, i do not wish to join".
However, the main problem is the indifference embedded among the alumni and students alike. They sit around and wait for things to happen, if it so happens, yay good for us. If it doesn't, well it's like dat.
I post them a question "if you cannot even afford that, then why did you subscribe to the mails?"
I'm not expecting everyone to come up with a brilliant idea overnight and cry "we love yj". Not even my level of participation, ie writing proposal and participating in discussion. But at least when someone shows the initiatives, agree or disagree. It's as easy as nodding or shaking the head. if 90% of the people did not vote, i don't see the point of the mailing list at all. What is the point of keeping 180 people updated about things they cannot be bothered with?
maybe i'm over reacting, but it's simply disappointing to see this.
Anyway, i was discussing euthanasia with my little brother. He happened to be online cos he took MC from school today. Apparently i was telling him i could help them with GP (topics, not grammar..) if they needed any help, and he asked me what to tutor for GP. Then initially post him a qn of inter-racial relationship. I wasn't too satisfied with his ans, i have to admit. Then i asked him "what do you think of euthanasia? are you for it or against it?"
These are things that should crop up in your mind as you read the papers, esp the forum where alot of people voice their views. You look at their views and decide whether you agree or disagree with them. Then ask yourself, why do you agree? Why not? Make out an argument of your own.
He was rather interested in the discussion and by the end of it, he decided that GP was fun after all.
More of such discussion should be done in school instead of emphasis on the form of writing an argumentative that they have currently. I suggested that he could initiate such a discussion among a few mature friends and propose to the school for a supervising teacher. At the end of the discussion, a report of the different views can be written and circulate among the larger student population. This can benefit the large group of student body at the same time, impress upon them the need to be aware of their surroundings and current affairs. It will definitely benefit their GP grades and their ability to interlink across discipline..
I need to realise all these ideas, but i noe if i go to teacher, the school won't be too receptive, not to mention it'll take some time for me to become a qualified teacher.
Talking about teaching, brings me to another topic:
Japan has accepted the new syllabus of History textbook As reported by TST 6th april, the new syllabus claim that it was not Japan who started the war and the comfort woman issue was diluted with no mention of the phrase "comfort women".
I am not about to fan anti-japanese emotions here. I think that a country has the sovereignty to teach their younger generation the way they wish it to be. China is also guilty of whitewashing their own history text of cruelty - e.g. Tiananmen Massacre. I believe in every country, a certain level of dilution of facts because: first, the history is written by the victors. in the case of a civil war, the party winning that civil war will choose which version of truth to teach the young. Second, a certain level of white washing is essential to maintain the pride of the nation, the pride of the citizens. For them to be proud to be of their origin. I wish to address the whole of such white washing issue, not particularly on any issue and definitely not taking sides.
What is the basic objective of education?
to prepare the younger generation to contribute to the society, imparting knowledge
The idea of imparting knowledge, has it become a mere passing on of norms within the society? the subjective knowledge from one generation to another, reinforcing the societal norms?
Is education merely for social engineering? that we tell the younger generation "it is a joy to be parent" when we need more babies, "this is the country's glorious past" when we need more patriotism among the people. I tend to believe such alterations, as long as they're not totally untrue, ie teaching young kids smoking is good, or as long as they do not impeach on friendly relations between countries, should be fine.
The former is obvious.
The latter can be a bit controvesial.
Why must an independent country craft their syllabus in order to make another country happy?
Let's take for example Japan's change of syllabus -
as i have learn in my secondary school history lesson, Japan started WWII in the Asian region, this i've checked up in CNN.com in their interview with the late author of The rape of NanKing
http://www.cnn.com/books/news/9905/25/nanking.salon/. Notwithstanding that, there is also the Singapore Museum that told me how Singaporeans suffered under the cruelty of Japan. Hence it is not difficult for us to accept the tragedy that occured in Nanking and Korea. I do not deny that i may be another product of subjectivity of history, however, there are many pictures, accounts of victims that can support this. These aren't things that victors of war make up just to blame another country for starting the war.
The subject of their alterations happened to involve their wrongdoing towards another country. It implies that they do not admit their mistake and their part in the war. It is one thing to say "yes, we started the war, we were wrong, we learn from it, we are strong today." it is another to say that "No, we were defending our rights, we are strong today". Telling a completely different story (note: i did not say "wrong story") is different from omitting the story, departing even further from what the evidences point to.
I am not even proposing to have a full account of what we have learnt on the receiving end of the cruelty. A mention and acknowledgment of these accounts could suffice. It is not the intention to shame the younger generation, to make them feel apologetic towards the other countries. It is to teach the younger generation the mistake that was made in the past and ought not to be repeated once again.
By protecting the people from such knowledge will only harm them, shock them even more when they eventually find out on their own, shame them even more with the full impact of reports from outside the country. With the current trend of globalisation and accessibility of information over the internet, the possibility of that happening is very high.
One can only imagine the growing differences such an act would create, the misguided younger generation, not understanding the anger every has against them.
Someone asked me "So you think we should continuing bashing them with the crimes their fore-fathers committed, make them feel ashamed and continue to make reparations? do you know why Germany started WWII then? it was because they were made to pay so much reparations that they couldn't bear the sufferings."
So what is the solution? To not even tell them what actually happened? This will only tighten the tension between those countries involved and evolve into more complicated misunderstandings eventually. When those misguided generation lead the country, they will not be able to appreciate the situation and in worst case senarios, another war may break out.
A civilised approached ought to be taken..
but den again, does civilised means "he who has the power, has the say"?
Politics, never get involved...
Monday, April 04, 2005
i realised i've got a bad habit, the nearer it is to exams, the more frequently i make entries in my blog.
I wonder if this helps to relieve stress..
But stress is when you are doing work rite? I'm not even doin work..
The price of movie ticket is increasing, and the companies insisted that they did not negotiated the increase. Well, perhaps it just so happened that all three decided that they should increase 50 cents for weekdays and 1 buck on the weekends.
I'm not complaining about the fact that there's a price hike, it is but a vicissitude in life. There's bound to be inflation and its a one way street that the cost of living will move in. Because with an increase in the amount you are paid by your boss, the company can only sustain it by increasing the price of its products. its goin to be an upward spiral.
However, this, together with another incident jus last friday, has made me realised that the consumers in singapore are actually very subjected to the power of the big companies. The disparity in bargaining power is just to evident locally.
Just last friday, i went to popular with my sister to buy some printing paper. The one that we used had only one packet left and when my sister picked it up, it was opened before. Being really fussy, my sister decided not to get it. Since she suspected the couple next to us to have opened it, she told me really loudly that "Why is this packet open? I don't want it anymore. How can people just open it like dat? If you don't know what's inside, ask the assistants lah!" Me, being blur, had no idea she was hinting at anything jus told her to let's go since she doesn't wanna buy anymore.
Only later when i ventured back to the same section, i personally saw the couple openning another packet of paper and the shop assistant was less than 3 metres away.
Anyway that's digression, my sister got a sales assistant to confirm if that was the last packet. so our dear popular assistant told my sister
"Oh, why is it open huh? I think it's the last packet, don't have anymore."
that's it, end of story.
i stood behind and uttered really loudly "WOW! That's helpful!"
yes, i'm being anal.
I simply cannot understand wat good is a sales assistant when all they do is tell you- oh, no more stock; this is the last one we have got (take it or leave me alone).
I don't ask much from them, all i'm looking for is - let me check the store room; how bout this other brand, it's really not much a difference; they renew the stocks on monday, perhaps you can drop by again then; let me check with the nearest shop whether there are anymore; let me show you this other design...
Look, i don't want to be told the problem, provide with some solution. The big problem with singapore's service sector is there are too many giant companies that are experiencing diseconomies of scale of LOUSY sales person.
Which brings me back to my point - they are not really making losses like wat we learn in Econs, because we do not have substitutes.
In northpoint, or anywhere near, there are no longer any smaller book shops for us to choose from if we're unhappy with the big names. It's just like if all the cinemas in singapore decide to increase the prices, what are we left with (legally, because my fren mentioned pirated vcds)? and other than going to malaysia to watch movie? We, as consumers, have so little bargaining power, because we cannot punish the big firms by not patronising them for bad service. you can write ten complaint letters to them, all they do is tell their people to be nice. There's no incentive for them to make a change in their training programs - because we still have to rely on these stores for our necessities. It does not make a difference to them whether they have good or bad services.
and i'm disgusted by that.
partly because econs is but based on many assumptions that we make.
i wan to do myself justice by patronizing some other store with another name, not to travel to woodlands to another popular...
anyway my student is here
cont nez time.
I wonder if this helps to relieve stress..
But stress is when you are doing work rite? I'm not even doin work..
The price of movie ticket is increasing, and the companies insisted that they did not negotiated the increase. Well, perhaps it just so happened that all three decided that they should increase 50 cents for weekdays and 1 buck on the weekends.
I'm not complaining about the fact that there's a price hike, it is but a vicissitude in life. There's bound to be inflation and its a one way street that the cost of living will move in. Because with an increase in the amount you are paid by your boss, the company can only sustain it by increasing the price of its products. its goin to be an upward spiral.
However, this, together with another incident jus last friday, has made me realised that the consumers in singapore are actually very subjected to the power of the big companies. The disparity in bargaining power is just to evident locally.
Just last friday, i went to popular with my sister to buy some printing paper. The one that we used had only one packet left and when my sister picked it up, it was opened before. Being really fussy, my sister decided not to get it. Since she suspected the couple next to us to have opened it, she told me really loudly that "Why is this packet open? I don't want it anymore. How can people just open it like dat? If you don't know what's inside, ask the assistants lah!" Me, being blur, had no idea she was hinting at anything jus told her to let's go since she doesn't wanna buy anymore.
Only later when i ventured back to the same section, i personally saw the couple openning another packet of paper and the shop assistant was less than 3 metres away.
Anyway that's digression, my sister got a sales assistant to confirm if that was the last packet. so our dear popular assistant told my sister
"Oh, why is it open huh? I think it's the last packet, don't have anymore."
that's it, end of story.
i stood behind and uttered really loudly "WOW! That's helpful!"
yes, i'm being anal.
I simply cannot understand wat good is a sales assistant when all they do is tell you- oh, no more stock; this is the last one we have got (take it or leave me alone).
I don't ask much from them, all i'm looking for is - let me check the store room; how bout this other brand, it's really not much a difference; they renew the stocks on monday, perhaps you can drop by again then; let me check with the nearest shop whether there are anymore; let me show you this other design...
Look, i don't want to be told the problem, provide with some solution. The big problem with singapore's service sector is there are too many giant companies that are experiencing diseconomies of scale of LOUSY sales person.
Which brings me back to my point - they are not really making losses like wat we learn in Econs, because we do not have substitutes.
In northpoint, or anywhere near, there are no longer any smaller book shops for us to choose from if we're unhappy with the big names. It's just like if all the cinemas in singapore decide to increase the prices, what are we left with (legally, because my fren mentioned pirated vcds)? and other than going to malaysia to watch movie? We, as consumers, have so little bargaining power, because we cannot punish the big firms by not patronising them for bad service. you can write ten complaint letters to them, all they do is tell their people to be nice. There's no incentive for them to make a change in their training programs - because we still have to rely on these stores for our necessities. It does not make a difference to them whether they have good or bad services.
and i'm disgusted by that.
partly because econs is but based on many assumptions that we make.
i wan to do myself justice by patronizing some other store with another name, not to travel to woodlands to another popular...
anyway my student is here
cont nez time.
Sunday, April 03, 2005
actually i've got lot to say the other day, however, no matter how i try, the blogspot just wont let me in. Instead they let my lil brother in. Now i totally have no inspiration, and i can finally get in.. does it mean too many people are blogging?
which brings me to my first point of discussion:
There are so many blogs, will there be regulations for them?
This is not a typical singaporean talking. I see a big problem, where people are writing watever and how ever they wish to, on a very accessible platform, the internet. Within a short period of one week, there were 2 incidents that involved blogs in the small year 1 law community.
one very disturbed guy became more disturbed after his blog add was passed around law school. Everyone knew where he went last friday, wat his mum told him when he got home and who he thinks are his best frens, inside out.. and made fun of him..
from what i heard, he's not exactly the nicest person around. shan't elaborate because it's really none of my business.
well, after he was being disturbed for nearly one semester, he or his frens (we suspect it's him) decided to retaliate. [the hypothetical]-they decided to "borrow" one of the 'jock club' boys' laptop when it was lying around and copied some private pictures. Then "the hypothetical they" sent an email to the whole law school, blackmailing the jock club boys to apologise to him. Otherwise, more private fotos will be published to the whole law school. Attached to the email was topless picture of the guys.
Seriously, why bring the whole law school into your little childish feud with each other? our conclusion, either the jock club thinks they're too low profile and needs to tell the world they're still dominating the law year 1, or the disturbed guy was so disturbed he had to write as a third person in the black-email.
and right after reading the email, i had my criminal law lecture. we were being told about criminal intimidation.. i wonder if black email actually falls into such a catergory. My fren said that unauthorised usage of the laptop can amount to a crime already. One of the smartest things to do as a law student, to break the law...
hahah i jus realised technology has allowed us to progress to black E mail, instead of black mail. Another word added to the dictionary because of the technology.
anyhow, i mentioned there was two incidents yah? another one involved my fren's moots. For everyone who doesn't know what moots are, it's a submission of our case arguments in the moot court. there are 3 judges and you have a partner, both of you will have an opponent each. seriously all you have to tackle is the judges who will ask you question regarding your submissions. There's really not real competition between you and your opponent. Hence i don't really understand the "spark", if you like, between my fren and his opponent for the moots.
His opponent wrote something about his past (true or not true i wont comment) in her blog, and comment how little integrity my fren had, that she was so inspired by what he did to beat him in the moots, that he should be really careful cos she's watching... goodness... rather dramatic.
But the truth is, she mentioned in her first paragraph that she had not investigated the matter. so how much integrity does she really have, by writing something like that without knowing the whole story? Not to mention this person happened to be her opponent in the moots? what motives does she have - i do not wish to explore. i only wish to say, i don't have too good an impression of her after being called a bimbo by her in front of my good frens. and if i may add, then, i had neva talk to her for more than 5 mins before.
somehow, one day she just decided that i was too much an eyesore to be mixing around her boyfren's frens and then called me a bimbo after i point out that she had jus admitted she was indian instead of the eurasian blood that she always claim she had. the things she did was much worst but i decided that has no place in my blog, after wasting so many words on her..
the blog she wrote could have gotten my fren into unnecessary trouble had someone point a public officer to view her site and carry on from there. Of cos, its of remote possibility, but does this justify why my fren has to be subjected to such unnecessary pressure? Undeniably, if one has done nothing wrong, one has nothing to fear. However, had someone decides to look into this, is it fair to my fren, who has done nothing to go through all that again? Anyway, however remote the chance is, it has happened before. And i'm the best person to prove it, those who know my story should know what i'm talking about.
From a long time ago i feel quite strongly about blogs. the reason why i'm still writing it, is mostly because i only write about myself. i don't mind telling you guys how pathetic i am, i try my best not to step on somebody else in order to show off my talent in writing, which coincidentally, is pathetic as well.
How should we view blogs?
it seems like a cross between personal and public, the inner part of you that you wan the whole wide world to know. so wat? public-private self?
should people rely on what they read in blogs and dig deeper?
some people claim their blogs are seldom read, but they have neva consider the potential readership out there is... the whole world..
or perhaps they did consider it, and that was the very incentive for them to write..
hahah which reminds me of that entry i wrote long ago..
Well, i just hope to remind everyone blogging that:
yes of cos we all have our right to free speech. But when we exercise this right, we should not and never impeach others' right, privacy. Sure, your blog is somewhere where you talk about things that matter to you, be it personal, be it public, be it political, be it brainless - the last thing we ought to do with our blogs is to attack people personally, to cause someone unnecessary trouble.
If i had to name one reason we do not have total freedom of speech in singapore - this is it. The immaturity still embedded within the society.
Youngsters complain they have no freedom of speech, paternalistic government, strict rules, stifling of creativity...
When one cannot weigh the gravity of what one write in a public viewing platform, regardless of it's nature, how can there be total freedom of speech? especially when much sensitivity is necessary with the different races in singapore?
Which brings me to a second issue: -
Some brilliant bright spark brought up the issue of inter-racial marriages to our Minister of sports and community development. considered as cream of crop, elite of singapore, he posted a question that i wonder if i should admired him for or feel really disappointed..
He asked the mixed blood minister - himself, being really conservative at heart, feels his skin crawling when he sees inter-racial couples, what does the minister make of it?
Admire him -because of his courage and wonder if he had waited all night to grab that chance to humiliate himself.
Feel really disappointed - is this the kind of elite we are cultivating with our education system? the top 20% of youths that we have sieved out, that will be leading our country in a few years to come?
First, what kind of question is that? the trend of globalization seeing an increase in inter-racial marriages, resulting in "diluting of traditions and cultures". globalization itself has saw the changes in traditions and cultures, advancement in technology has done it. Progression of mankind requires us to modify our cultures and traditions to adapt to the modern times. So why the focus on inter-racial marriages? This is not conservative, this guy has seriously narrow perspective.
Second, what does it mean by "making his skin crawl"? seriously, when you address a group of people, you should weigh your words with some consideration. i can only imagine the number of people slapping their forehead when he made that statement. What does the statement show about his feelings towards people of a different race as him? I only hope that he was from a minority that only took away "the formidable skills of taking exams" from our education system, while most of us know what values are.
Third, i'm in a dilemma. The main reason why little people speak up is because we're afraid we sound stupid. By slamming this guy so badly, will only reinforce this fear in people. I wish to clarify that most of the time i admire people to speak up in dialogue sessions, because i'm of the class of people who sit there and blend into the surrounding. However, such insensitive remark should not be condone. People should be encouraged to speak up, and we should all do so, but in a responsible manner. Say it in a responsible, sensitive manner. Only when people show maturity in their speech, can there be more freedom of speech in this multiracial society.
I'm tired, lasy to write.
Yawnz, go sleep
nice conclusion eh?
hahahahaha
:p
cheers
wenrong
which brings me to my first point of discussion:
There are so many blogs, will there be regulations for them?
This is not a typical singaporean talking. I see a big problem, where people are writing watever and how ever they wish to, on a very accessible platform, the internet. Within a short period of one week, there were 2 incidents that involved blogs in the small year 1 law community.
one very disturbed guy became more disturbed after his blog add was passed around law school. Everyone knew where he went last friday, wat his mum told him when he got home and who he thinks are his best frens, inside out.. and made fun of him..
from what i heard, he's not exactly the nicest person around. shan't elaborate because it's really none of my business.
well, after he was being disturbed for nearly one semester, he or his frens (we suspect it's him) decided to retaliate. [the hypothetical]-they decided to "borrow" one of the 'jock club' boys' laptop when it was lying around and copied some private pictures. Then "the hypothetical they" sent an email to the whole law school, blackmailing the jock club boys to apologise to him. Otherwise, more private fotos will be published to the whole law school. Attached to the email was topless picture of the guys.
Seriously, why bring the whole law school into your little childish feud with each other? our conclusion, either the jock club thinks they're too low profile and needs to tell the world they're still dominating the law year 1, or the disturbed guy was so disturbed he had to write as a third person in the black-email.
and right after reading the email, i had my criminal law lecture. we were being told about criminal intimidation.. i wonder if black email actually falls into such a catergory. My fren said that unauthorised usage of the laptop can amount to a crime already. One of the smartest things to do as a law student, to break the law...
hahah i jus realised technology has allowed us to progress to black E mail, instead of black mail. Another word added to the dictionary because of the technology.
anyhow, i mentioned there was two incidents yah? another one involved my fren's moots. For everyone who doesn't know what moots are, it's a submission of our case arguments in the moot court. there are 3 judges and you have a partner, both of you will have an opponent each. seriously all you have to tackle is the judges who will ask you question regarding your submissions. There's really not real competition between you and your opponent. Hence i don't really understand the "spark", if you like, between my fren and his opponent for the moots.
His opponent wrote something about his past (true or not true i wont comment) in her blog, and comment how little integrity my fren had, that she was so inspired by what he did to beat him in the moots, that he should be really careful cos she's watching... goodness... rather dramatic.
But the truth is, she mentioned in her first paragraph that she had not investigated the matter. so how much integrity does she really have, by writing something like that without knowing the whole story? Not to mention this person happened to be her opponent in the moots? what motives does she have - i do not wish to explore. i only wish to say, i don't have too good an impression of her after being called a bimbo by her in front of my good frens. and if i may add, then, i had neva talk to her for more than 5 mins before.
somehow, one day she just decided that i was too much an eyesore to be mixing around her boyfren's frens and then called me a bimbo after i point out that she had jus admitted she was indian instead of the eurasian blood that she always claim she had. the things she did was much worst but i decided that has no place in my blog, after wasting so many words on her..
the blog she wrote could have gotten my fren into unnecessary trouble had someone point a public officer to view her site and carry on from there. Of cos, its of remote possibility, but does this justify why my fren has to be subjected to such unnecessary pressure? Undeniably, if one has done nothing wrong, one has nothing to fear. However, had someone decides to look into this, is it fair to my fren, who has done nothing to go through all that again? Anyway, however remote the chance is, it has happened before. And i'm the best person to prove it, those who know my story should know what i'm talking about.
From a long time ago i feel quite strongly about blogs. the reason why i'm still writing it, is mostly because i only write about myself. i don't mind telling you guys how pathetic i am, i try my best not to step on somebody else in order to show off my talent in writing, which coincidentally, is pathetic as well.
How should we view blogs?
it seems like a cross between personal and public, the inner part of you that you wan the whole wide world to know. so wat? public-private self?
should people rely on what they read in blogs and dig deeper?
some people claim their blogs are seldom read, but they have neva consider the potential readership out there is... the whole world..
or perhaps they did consider it, and that was the very incentive for them to write..
hahah which reminds me of that entry i wrote long ago..
Well, i just hope to remind everyone blogging that:
yes of cos we all have our right to free speech. But when we exercise this right, we should not and never impeach others' right, privacy. Sure, your blog is somewhere where you talk about things that matter to you, be it personal, be it public, be it political, be it brainless - the last thing we ought to do with our blogs is to attack people personally, to cause someone unnecessary trouble.
If i had to name one reason we do not have total freedom of speech in singapore - this is it. The immaturity still embedded within the society.
Youngsters complain they have no freedom of speech, paternalistic government, strict rules, stifling of creativity...
When one cannot weigh the gravity of what one write in a public viewing platform, regardless of it's nature, how can there be total freedom of speech? especially when much sensitivity is necessary with the different races in singapore?
Which brings me to a second issue: -
Some brilliant bright spark brought up the issue of inter-racial marriages to our Minister of sports and community development. considered as cream of crop, elite of singapore, he posted a question that i wonder if i should admired him for or feel really disappointed..
He asked the mixed blood minister - himself, being really conservative at heart, feels his skin crawling when he sees inter-racial couples, what does the minister make of it?
Admire him -because of his courage and wonder if he had waited all night to grab that chance to humiliate himself.
Feel really disappointed - is this the kind of elite we are cultivating with our education system? the top 20% of youths that we have sieved out, that will be leading our country in a few years to come?
First, what kind of question is that? the trend of globalization seeing an increase in inter-racial marriages, resulting in "diluting of traditions and cultures". globalization itself has saw the changes in traditions and cultures, advancement in technology has done it. Progression of mankind requires us to modify our cultures and traditions to adapt to the modern times. So why the focus on inter-racial marriages? This is not conservative, this guy has seriously narrow perspective.
Second, what does it mean by "making his skin crawl"? seriously, when you address a group of people, you should weigh your words with some consideration. i can only imagine the number of people slapping their forehead when he made that statement. What does the statement show about his feelings towards people of a different race as him? I only hope that he was from a minority that only took away "the formidable skills of taking exams" from our education system, while most of us know what values are.
Third, i'm in a dilemma. The main reason why little people speak up is because we're afraid we sound stupid. By slamming this guy so badly, will only reinforce this fear in people. I wish to clarify that most of the time i admire people to speak up in dialogue sessions, because i'm of the class of people who sit there and blend into the surrounding. However, such insensitive remark should not be condone. People should be encouraged to speak up, and we should all do so, but in a responsible manner. Say it in a responsible, sensitive manner. Only when people show maturity in their speech, can there be more freedom of speech in this multiracial society.
I'm tired, lasy to write.
Yawnz, go sleep
nice conclusion eh?
hahahahaha
:p
cheers
wenrong
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